Apparatus for handling substantially flat articles



P. J. PACKMAN ET AL 3,068,989

Dec. 18, 1962 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT ARTICLES 4Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 3, 1959 Dec. 18, 1962 P. J. PACKMAN ETAI.3,063,989

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT ARTICLES Filed April 5, 1959 4Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 18, 1962 P. J. PACKMAN ET AL 3,068,989

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT ARTICLES 4 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed April 3, 1959 P. J. PACKMAN ET AL 3,068,989

Dec. 18, 1962 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT ARTICLES 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 5, 1959 -6I'a. 8': an ,5 em TC 179 short sideof the rectangle.

United States Patent D 1 3,068,989 APPARATUS FOR HANDLING SUBSTANTIALLYFLAT ARTICLES Percival James Packman, Twyford, and David Charles Morton,Woodley, England, assignors to Baker Perkins Limited, Peterborough,England, a British company Filed Apr. 3, 1959, Ser. No. 803,925 14Claims. (Cl. 198-33) The present invention relates to apparatus fororientating a plurality of non-circular substantially-similar flatarticles, for example square, rectangular, oval or other non-circularbiscuits. I

In the manufacture of biscuits by mass-production methods the bakedbiscuits leave the oven on a band conveyor and are allowed to coolbefore passing to further handling processes such as sandwiching orenrobing processes, packaging or machine wrapping. This cooling usuallyis efiected by passing the biscuits backwards and forwards through acooling room or chamber employing a number of band conveyors. r

The biscuits leaving the oven are usually arranged in a plurality ofsubstantially straightrows lying parallel to the direction of advance ofthe band conveyor which transports the biscuits through the oven and, inthe case of non-circular biscuits, the individual biscuits are eachorientated in a regular manner with respect to the direction of advanceof the conveyor. For example in the case of square or rectangularbiscuits two sides of each biscuit may be disposed parallel to thedirection of advance of the band conveyor, and in the case of ovalbiscuits the major or minor axis of each biscuit may be disposedparallel to said direction of advance. During the above mentionedcooling process, however, this regular orientation of the biscuits isdisturbed and this has the drawback that it makes further handling ofthese biscuits more difficult.

The present invention provides an apparatus for orientating a pluralityof disorientated non-circular substantially-similar flat articles.

If a non-circular flat article is placed on a horizontal plane surfacebetween two parallel vertical plane surfaces with the peripheral edge ofthe article touching the two vertical planes, the spacing apart of thetwo vertical planes will vary for different angular positions of thearticle relative to a straight line drawn on the horizontal plane. Therewill be at least two angular positions of the article in which thespacing apart of the two vertical planes will be a maximum and for thesake of simplicity in the ensuing description and claims this maximumdistance will be referredto as the major transverse'dirnension of3,068,989 Patented Dec. 18,

"ice

ranged substantially parallel to one another and being spaced apart. adistance slightly greater than the minor transverse dimension of thearticles but less than the major transverse dimension of the articles sothat only when an article is orientated with a minor transversedimension substantially at right angles to said side members can it I bereceived on the base member between said side memveyed away.

the article. There will also be at least two angular positions of thearticle in which the spacing apart of the two vertical planes is aminimum and for the sake of simplicity in the ensuing description andclaims this minimum distance will be referred to as the minor transversedimension of the article. In the case of a rectangular article the majorand minor transverse dimensions correspond, respectively, to the lengthsof the diagonal and In the case of an elliptical article theycorrespond, respectively, to the lengths of the major and minor axes ofthe ellipse. In the case of a triangular article they correspond,respectively, to the length of the longest side of the triangle and thelength of the perpendicular from said longest side to the oppositevertex of the triangle. p

According to the invention apparatus for orientating a plurality ofdisorientated non-circular substantially-similar flat articles comprisesan upwardly open channel upon which the disorientated articles aredeposited, said chanarate from the base member, the side members beingar- The expression efiective relative movement is used in thisspecification to define the condition existing between two members inwhich, although there may not be a perceptible relative movement betweenthem, an article restng on one of the members is caused to move relativeto lhe other member, for example through suitable vibration of said onemember.

When the articles are fed on to the channel they will take up positionswhich fall into one of three categories. In the first category arearticles which are fed on to the channel orientated in such a mannerthat they will pass between the side members and be received on the basemember. In the second category are articles which are fed on to thechannel orientated in such a manner that they will be received partly onthe base member and partly on the upper edge of one of the side members.A

In the third category are articles which are fed on to the channelorientated in such a manner that they will be received on the upperedges of the two side members completely out of contact with the basemember. The articles in the second category will be rotated by theactual or effective relative. movements between the side members and thebase member and the articles in the third category will be rotated bythe actual or effective relative movement between the two side members.As a result of such rotation the articles of the second and thirdcategories are brought into positions in which they too can pass betweenthe two side members and rest entirely on the base member.

If the articles are symmetrical about two axes at right angles to oneanother lying in the plane of the article, e.g. rectangular, square oroval, then apparatus according to the invention will orientate all thearticles in substantially the same way. If the articles are notsymmetrical about such two axes, then each article will be orientated inone of a number of ways. For example, an article of equilateraltriangular shape will be orientated in one of two ways, and an articleof isosceles triangular shape will be orientated in one of four ways.

Preferably the base member moves at a substantially constant speed inone direction between the two side members to carry away the articlesfalling thereon, the speed of the base member preferably being such thatthere is no tendency for the articles to pile up on the base member. Incases where there is an actual relative movement between the base memberand the side members, one side member may be stationary and the othermay travel in the same direction as the base member but at a fasterspeed than the latter. Again, one side member may travel in the oppositedirection to the base member while the other travels in the samedirection as the base member at a faster speed than the latter.Preferably however, both side members travel in the same direction asthe base member, both at a faster speed than the latter.

In a preferred form of apparatus according to the invention each sidemember of said channel is separated from the base member by a stationarymember, and the actual or effective relative movement between the sidemembers and the base member is such that an article deposited on a sidemember is moved by the latter in the same direction as that in whicharticles are advanced by the base member. In this form of the apparatusit is preferred to provide an actual relative movement between the basemember and each side member, each side being arranged to travel at ahigher speed than the base member. The main advantage of this form ofapparatus in accordance with the invention is that the stationary memberassociated with each side member has no adverse turning effect on anarticle in the second category mentioned above by attempting to rotatethat part of the article in contact therewith in a direction opposite tothat in which the article is being rotated by the upper edge of theother side member of the-channel. On the contrary, the stationary memberimparts a slight drag on the article which assists in orientating thearticle in the desired way. Another advantage of this form of apparatusis that the stationary members can serve as guide means for the sidemembers to maintain the spacing apart of the side members as constant aspossible. Yet another advantage of this form of the apparatus is thatthe stationary members can be made of a different material from the sidemembers. This makes it possible to choose a material for the sidemembers having a high coeflicient of friction and a material having alower coeflicient of friction for the stationary members. The sidemembers then have a strong turning effect on articles deposited thereon,yet when the articles are correctly orientated and received on the basemember, frictional drag through contact of the edges of the articleswith the stationary members is reduced to a minimum.

According to a further feature of the invention an auxiliary base memberis disposed after the main base member in the longitudinal direction ofthe side members, the auxiliary base member being arranged to travel ata higher speed than the main base member. The two base members arearranged so that as an article passes from the main base member on tothe auxiliary base member it is tilted momentarily in its direction ofadvance. If two articles arrive at the point of transfer from the mainbase member to the auxiliary base member with one article lying on topof the other, the tilting of the superimposed articles causes one of thearticles to make contact with the auxiliary base member before theother. Since the auxiliary base member is travelling faster than themain base member, the article which first makes contact with theauxiliary base member is drawn away from the other article and the twoarticles are separated from one another. Whether the upper article isdrawn off the top of the lower article, or the lower article is drawnfrom underneath the upper article, depends on the position of the upperarticle in relation to the lower article at the moment the superimposedarticles are tilted. Preferably, each of the base members is formed bythe upper flight of a flat band conveyor with the upper surfaces of thetwo conveyors disposed in the same plane. At its receiving end thedownstream conveyor is deflected under the discharge end of the upstreamconveyor so that a narrow transverse depression is formed between thetwo base members. As an article travels off the upstream conveyor theleading edge of the article moves down into the depression until itmakes contact with the downstream conveyor and this produces the abovedescribed tilting of the article. The main base member should have sucha length that this tilting of the articles takes place after thearticles have been orientated and lie on the main base member betweenthe side or stationary members of the channel.

Three embodiments of apparatus in accordance with the invention will nowbe described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a schematic side elevation of the firstembodiment of the apparatus,

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line IIII of FIGURE1,

FIGURE 3 is a plan of part of the conveyor assembly of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 4 is a schematic side elevation of the second embodiment of theapparatus,

FIGURE 5 is a plan of part of the apparatus of FIGURE 4,

FIGURES 6 to 8 are views, on an enlarged scale, taken along the linesVIVI, VIIVII and VIIIVIII, respectively, of FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 9 is a side elevation, on an enlarged scale, of one of thestationary members of the apparatus of FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 10 is a plan corresponding to FIGURE 9,

FIGURE 11 is a section, on an enlarged scale, taken along the line XI-XIof FIGURE 9, and also showing the side member associated with thestationary member,

FIGURE 12 is a detail view, on an enlarged scale, of a part of theapparatus of FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 13 is a partly sectioned plan, taken along the line XIIIXIII ofFIGURE 12, showing a strip supporting member,

FIGURE 14 is a section, on an enlarged scale, taken along the lineXIV-XIV of FIGURE 12,

FIGURE 15 is a schematic side elevation of the third embodiment of theapparatus, and

FIGURE 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XVI-'-XVI ofFIGURE 15.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2 the apparatus shown is intended primarilyfor handling non-circular biscuits which in the following descriptionwill be assumed to be of rectangular shape and to be advancing towardsthe apparatus in the direction of the arrow A in four rows on aconveyor 1. The four rows of biscuits are assumed to lie generally inthe direction of advance of the conveyor 1 and the individual biscuitsare assumed to have their side edges orientated at various angles to thesaid direction of advance. In this apparatus the biscuits are dischargedfrom the conveyor 1 down a chute 2 on to the upper flight of a bandconveyor 3. The conveyor 3 is mounted on substantially horizontalrollers 4 and 5 arranged in parallel spaced relationship, the roller 4being an idler roller and the roller 5 a driving roller. The upperflight of the conveyor 3 is constrained to move along an upwardly curvedpath in any suitable way (not shown), for example by means of a suitablyshaped supporting surface or a plurality of rollers bearing against theunderside of the upper flight of the conveyor. Three endless V-beltconveyors 6, 7 and 8 mounted on pulleys 9 and 10 are arranged in spacedparallel relationship with their upper flights in contact with the uppersurface of the upper flight of the conveyor 3. The upper flights of theconveyors 6-8 are adapted to move in a direction substantially parallelto the direction of advance of the upper flight of the conveyor 3.Midway between the upper flights of the conveyors 6 and 7 there isarranged a stationary strip 11a and midway between the upper flights ofthe conveyors 7 and 8 there is arranged a stationary strip 11b, thesestrips being arranged parallel to the V-belt conveyors 6-8 and incontact with the upper flight of the conveyor 3 along the major part ofthe upwardly curved portion of the latter. The V-belt conveyors 6-8 andthe strips 11a, 11b all have their upwardly directed surfaces atsubstantially the same height above the upper surface of the upperflight of the conveyor 3, this height being equal to, or a littlegreater than the maximum thickness of the biscuits being handled. TheV-belt conveyors 6-8 are made to advance in the same direction as theconveyor 3 at a speed approximately equal to twice the speed of theconveyor 3, each V-belt conveyor being spaced from the adjacent strip11:: or 11b, transversely of the conveyor 3, by a distance slightlygreater than the length of a short side (i.e. the minor transversedimension) of the rectangular biscuits being handled. The conveyors 3and 6 and the strlp 11:: form an upwardly open channel, the channel basemember being provided by the conveyor 3 and the side members by theconveyor 6 and the strip 11a. In like manner the conveyor 3 forms thebase member of three other similar upwardly open channels the sidemembers of which are formed, respectively, by the strip 11a and theconveyor 7, the conveyor 7 and the strip 11b, and the strip 11b andconveyor 8.

In use of this first embodiment of the apparatus the biscuits dischargedfrom the conveyor 1 pass down the chute 2 and are deposited on to theupwardly open channels formed by the conveyors 3, 6, 7 and 8 and thestrips 11:; and 11b. The biscuits which are fed on to the conveyorassembly are received on the latter in positions which fall into one ofthree categories. In the first category are biscuits which are receivedon the conveyor 3 between one of the strips 11a, 11b and one of theconveyors 6-8, for example the biscuit 12 shown in FIGURE 3. In thesecond category are biscuits which are received resting partly on theconveyor 3, and partly on one of the strips 11a, 11b or on conveyors 68.The biscuits 13 and 15 shown in FIGURE 3 rest on conveyor 3 and onconveyors 7 and. 8, respectively. In the third category are biscuitswhich are received on one of the strips 11a, 11b and one of the adjacentconveyors 6-8, completely out of contact with the conveyor 3, forexample the biscuit 14 shown in FIGURE 3.

The biscuits of the first category are carried along by the conveyor 3in the direction of the arrow B and are discharged from the latter on toa chute 16. Thus the biscuit 12 is carried by the conveyor 3 between thestrip 11b and the conveyor 6 through the positions designated 12a and12b and is then transferred by the chute 16 on to a conveyor 17 withoutits orientation being changed from that existing in the position 12b.

The biscuits of the second and third categories are all subjected to arotary movement as they are carried along by the conveyor assembly,owing to the fact that one corner of each of these biscuits is caused tomove at a greater speed in the direction of the arrow B than theopposite corner of the biscuit. Thus the corner 13 of the biscuit 13 ismoving in the direction of the arrow B at approximately the speed of theconveyor 3. The corner 13 however, is being moved by the conveyor 7 inthe direction of the arrow B at approximately twice the speed of thecorner 13'. Consequently the biscuit 13 rotates in the direction of thearrow C. Under the influence of this rotary movement the biscuit 13first takes up the position 13a and finally the position 13b in whichthe .biscuit rests on the conveyor 3 between the conveyor 7 and thestrip 11a. In like manner the biscuit 15 is subjected to a rotarymovement in the direction of the arrow C since the peripheral velocityof the conveyor 8 in the direction of the arrow B is twice that of theconveyor 3. The corner 14' of the biscuit 14 rests on the conveyor 7which is moving in the direction of the arrow B whilst the corner 14 ofthe biscuit rests on the stationary strip 11b. As a result the biscuit14 conveyor 17 then moves the regularly orientated biscuits away in thedirection of the arrow E.

In this first embodiment of the apparatus it is a simple matter toarrange the V-belt conveyors 6-8 and the strips 11a, 116 so that theirpositions transversely of the con- 6 veyor 3 can be adjusted. In thisway the apparatus can be adjusted to handle biscuits of difierent sizes.I In a modified form of the apparatus shown in FIG- URES l to 3 theV-belt conveyors 6-8 may be replaced by suitably vibrated strips. Theconveyor 3 may also :be replaced by one ormore suitably vibrated plates.

The second embodiment of the apparatus shown in biscuits. Although theapparatus is capable of orientating square, oval, rectangular,triangular and other noncircular biscuits, it will be assumed in thefollowing description that the apparatus is orientating rectangularbiscuits which are assumed to be advancing towards the apparatus in thedirection of the arrow F in a number of rows on a conveyor 18 (shownonly in FIGURE 4). The rows of biscuits are assumed to lie generally inthe direction of advance of the conveyor 18 and the individual biscuitsare assumed to have their side edges orientated at various angles to thesaid direction of advance. In this apparatus the biscuits aredischargedfrom the conveyor 18 down a chute 19 (shown only in FIGURE 4) on to theupper flight of a band conveyor 20. The conveyor 20 is mounted onsubstantially horizontal rollers 21-24, and a guide 25, the rollers21-23 being idler rollers and the'roller 24 being a driving roller.Downstream of the conveyor 20 is a second band conveyor 26 having itsupper flight disposed in substantially the same plane as the upperflight of the conveyor 20. The conveyor 26 is mounted on substantiallyhorizontal rollers 27-31 and guides 3234, the rollers 27-30 being idlerrollers and the roller 31 being a driving roller. The roller 24 isdriven by the roller 31 by a chain 35 and sprocket wheels 36, 37. Theroller 31 is driven by an electric motor 38 via belt 39, pulley 40,sprocket wheel 41, chain 42, sprocket wheels 43, 44, chain 45 andsprocket wheel 46. Conveyor 26 travels at twice the speed of conveyor20.

The guides 32, 33 at the upstream end of the upper flight of conveyor 26are arranged so that there is a narrow transverse depression 47 betweenthe downstream end of conveyor 20 and the upstream end of conveyor 26.

Immediately above the upper flights of the conveyors 20 and 26 is aplurality of stationary members in the form of straight metal strips 48of rectangular cross-section. These strips are received in a support 49adjacent to the upstream end of conveyor 20 and in a further support,generally designated by the numeral 50, adjacent to the downstream endof conveyor 26. As will be seen from FIGURE 8 the support 49 is providedwith a number of slots 51 along its upper edge, each of which is adaptedto receive one of the strips 48'. The slots 51 are spaced apart adistance slightly greater than the minimum transverse dimension of thebiscuits being handled. At one end of the support 49 two further slots52 are provided in the upper edge of the support 49 which receive twospare strips 48'. The support 50, which has been omitted -from FIGURE 5,but which is shown in detail in FIG- to the rod 53 by a bolt 55 andcomprises a plate 56 provided with a slot 57 which receives a strip 48-and locates it in the transverse direction. Each support member 54 alsocomprises two side plates 58 secured to the plate 56 by screws 59. A pin60 passing through the side plates 58 and the strip 48 locates thelatter in the longitwdirral direction; The support members are spacedalong the rod 53 the same distance apart as the slots 51 and 52 in thesupport 49 so that the strips 48 are parallel to one another andparallel to the direction of advance of the upper flights of theconveyors 20 and 26.

Each of the strips 48 supports the upper flight of a round belt conveyor61a or 61b. The round belt conveyors 61a are mounted on substantiallyhorizontal rollers 62-64 the rollers 62 and 63 being idler rollers andthe roller 64 being a driven roller. Roller 64 is driven from a pulley65 secured to the shaft of sprocket wheel 41 by a belt 66 and a pulley67. The round belt conveyors 61b are mounted on substantially horizontalrollers 68- 71, the rollers 68 70 being idler rollers and the roller 71being a driven roller. The roller 71 is driven from the roller 64 by achain 72 and sprocket wheels 73 and 74. The pulleys and sprocket wheels65, 67, 73 and 74 are so dimensioned that the conveyors 61a travelfaster than the conveyors 61b and so that both the conveyors 61a and6112 travel faster than the band conveyor 20.

The conveyors 61a and 61b are arranged alternately in the transversedirection of the main band conveyors and 26, as is best seen in FIGURE5. At the upstream end of conveyor 20 the upper flight of each of theround belt conveyors 61a, 61b is guided in a slot 75 in the support 49.At the downstream end of conveyor 26 the upper flight of each of theconveyors 61a, 61b is guided between the two side plates 58 of one ofthe support members 54, as is best shown in FIGURE 14. Intermediate thesupports 49 and 50 the upper flight of each conveyor 61a, 61b travelsalong the upper surface of one of the strips 48, the latter beingprovided with guide blocks 76 at intervals throughout its length for thepurpose of locating the conveyors 61a, 61b in the transverse direction.

Each block 76 is located in a recess in the upper surface of a strip 48and is held in position by screws 77 (see FIGURE 11). The upwardlydirected surface 78 of each block is concave. On the upstream side ofthe rollers 62 and 69 the conveyors 61a, 61b are maintained at thecorrect transverse spacing by a guide 79 (see FIGURES 4 and 6). Thelatter comprises a tube 80 to which are secured pairs of polished metalfingers 81 to receive the conveyors 61a and further pairs of polishedmetal fingers 82 to receive the conveyors 61b. The tube 80 is rotatablymounted in bearings (not shown) in the frame of the apparatus so thatthe fingers 81, 82 may be swung out of engagement with the conveyors61a, 61b. On the upstream side of the rollers 63 and 68- the conveyors61a, 61b are maintained at the correct transverse spacing by a furtherguide 83 (see FIGURES 4 and 7). The latter comprises a tube 84 to whichare secured pairs of polished metal fingers 85 to receive the conveyors61a and further pairs of polished metal fingers 86 to receive theconveyors 61b. The tube 84 is rotatably mounted in the frame of theapparatus in the same way as tube 80.

Biscuits discharged down the chute 19 on to the band conveyor 20 andround belt conveyors 61a, 61b again fall into three categories as in thecase of the apparatus described above with reference to FIGURES 1 to 3.In the first category are biscuits, such as the biscuits 87 in FIGURE 5,which are received on the band conveyor 20 between two strips 48. In thesecond category are biscuits, such as the biscuits 88, which have onecorner resting on the band conveyor 20 and a diagonally opposite cornerresting on the upper flight of one of the conveyors 61a, 61b. In thethird category are biscuits, such as the biscuit 89, which rest on theupper flights of a conveyor 61a and a conveyor 61b, entirely out ofcontact with the band conveyor 20. The biscuits of categories two andthree are rotated by the relative movement between, on the one hand, theband conveyor 20 and each of the round belt conveyors 61a, 61b, and onthe other hand, between the conveyors 61a and 61b.

By the time the biscuits have been conveyed to the downstream end ofconveyor 20 they will all have been orientated into a position in whichtheir minor transverse dimension is disposed substantially transverselyof the direction of advance of the conveyor 20. It may happen, however,that some bscuits are resting entirely, or partly on top of anotherbiscuit, for example the biscuits 90,

'91 and the biscuits 92, 93. The biscuit 90 rests partly on top of thebiscuit 91, the leading edge of the latter biscuit being downstream ofthe leading edge of biscuit 90. When this pair of biscuits reaches thedownstream end of conveyor 20 the leading edge of biscuit 91 first tiltsdown into the depression 47 between the conveyors 20 and 26 and makescontact with the upstream end of the band conveyor 26 (as indicated bythe biscuit 94 in FIGURE 4). The conveyor 26 is travelling at twice thespeed of conveyor 20 and consequently the biscuit 91 is drawn by theconveyor 26 from underneath the biscuit and the two biscuits becomeseparated. The biscuit 92 rests on top of the biscuit 93, the leadingedge of the former being downstream of the leading edge of the biscuit93. When this pair of biscuits reaches the downstream end of theconveyor 20 the pair of biscuits tilts downwardly into the depression 47and the leading edge of biscuit 92 first makes contact with the upstreamend of conveyor 26. Consequently the biscuit 92 is drawn ofl the top ofthe biscuit 9'3 and the two biscuits become separated. At the depression47 each of the strips 48 has a triangular guide plate 95 secured to itsundersurface (as shown in FIGURE 9) to prevent lateral displacement ofthe bisciuts as they are transferred from conveyor 20 to conveyor 26.

At the downstream end of conveyor 26 the orientated biscuits are guidedbetween the plates 56 of the support members 54 and discharge onto afurther flat band conveyor 96. In order to prevent the biscuitscontacting the conveyors 61a, 61b as they pass onto the conveyor 96,thin shims 97 are secured to the plates 56 to embrace the conveyors 61a,61b. Guide plates 98 may be arranged immediately above the upper flightof conveyor 96 between which the orientated biscuits are received.

The main advantage of the apparatus shown in FIG- URES 4-14 comparedwith that of FIGURES l to 3 is that the strips 48 have no adverseturning effect on a biscuit in the second category mentioned above byattempting to rotate that part of the biscut in contact therewith in adirection opposite to that in which the biscuit is being rotated by oneof the conveyors 61a, 6111.

In one particular appratus constructed in accordance with FIGURES 4-14,the band conveyor 20 travelled at 162 feet per minute, the band conveyor26 at 324 feet per minute, the round belt conveyors 61a at 264 feet perminute and the round belt conveyors 61b at 236 feet per minute. Theapparatus could be used for orientating square, rectangular, oval,triangular and other non-circular biscuits.

It is a simple matter to adjust the apparatus of FIG- URES 4 to 14 tohandle biscuits of different sizes. Thus the support members 54 can beadjusted along the tube 53 and the support 49 and guides 79, 83 can bereplaced by similar members which space apart the strips 48 andconveyors 61a, 61b to suit the spacing of the support members 54.

It will also be appreciated that the number of conveyors 61a, 61bemployed may be varied. This variation of the number of the conveyors61a, 61b is facilitated by the provision of spare conveyors 61a, 61bassociated with the strips 48' (see FIGURES 5 to 8).

The third embodiment of the apparatus shown in FIG- URES 15 and 16 isagain intended primarily for handling non-circular biscuits which in thefollowing description will be assumed to be of rectangular shape and tobe lying on a band conveyor 101 in four rows disposed generally in thedirection of advance H of the conveyor and with the edges of thebiscuits lying at various angles with respect to said direction ofadvance.

The apparatus illustrated comprises a rotating drum assembly, generallydesignated 102, having a width substantially equal to the width of thefour rows of biscuits on the conveyor 101. The drum assembly 102 isarranged with its longitudinal axis substantially horizontal and atright angles to the direction of advance of the conveyor 101.

The drum assembly 102 comprises four flat-rimmed pulleys 103-106 allhaving the same diameter, which pulleys are secured rigidly side by sideon the horizontal shaft 107 of the drum assembly. The edges of each pairof adjacent pulleys are separated by a circular disc 109, 110 or 111which is rotatably mounted on the shaft 107 by means of a bearing 113.The discs 109-111 have a diameter which is greater than the diameter ofthe pulleys 103-106 by an amount equal to, or a little larger than,twice the thickness of the biscuits being handled. Similar discs 108,112 are rotatably mounted on the shaft 107 at each end of the series ofpulleys 103-106. Each pulley and the disc mounted on each side of itform a channel as mentioned above, the base of the channel being formedby the pulley. rim and the sides of the channel being formed by theportions of the discs which project beyond the pulley rim.

The discs arranged on each side of a pulley may bear lightly against theedges of the pulley rim or there may be a small gap between the pulleyrim and the discs, as shown in FIGURE 16. The distance between theinwardly facing surfaces of the two discs associated with a pulley isslightly greater than the length of the short side (i.e. the minortransverse dimension) of the rectangular biscuits being handled.

The discs 109 and 111 are held stationary by any suitable clampingdevice 114 and the remaining discs 108, 110 and 112 are adapted to bedriven by friction wheels 115 mounted on a shaft 116. The shaft 116 isdriven from a shaft 117 by means of pulleys 118, 119 and a belt 120 andthe shaft 107 is driven from the shaft 117 by means of pulleys 121, 122and a belt 123. The pulleys "118, 119, 121 and 122 are so dimensionedand the belts the discharge end of the conveyor 101 and the shaft 117 isset in rotation so that the pulleys 103-106 and the discs 108, 110 and112 rotate in the direction of the arrow J, FIGURE 15. The biscuitsdischarged from the conveyor 101 "are fed on to the rotating drumassembly 102, for example by means of a suitably positioned chute 124.The biscuits are fed on to the drum assembly at points located betweenthe conveyor 101 and the highest point of the drum assembly and theytravel with the latter in the direction of the arrow J to a point wherethey are discharged on to a further chute 125. The latter chute isarranged to transfer the biscuits, without altering their orientation,on to a further band conveyor 126 the upper flight of which moves in thedirection of the arrow K. The speed of rotation of the pulleys 103-106is such that the biscuits are moved by the drum assembly at a speed notless than the speed of advance of the biscuits on the convey-or 101. Inthis way a build-up of biscuits on the drum assembly 102 is prevented.

The biscuits which are fed on to the drum assembly are received on thelatter in positions which fall into one of three categories. In thefirst category are biscuits which are received on a pulley 103-106between the two discs associated with the pulley. In the second categoryare biscuits which are received resting partly on one of the pulleys103-106 and partly on one of the discs associated with the pulley. Inthe third category are biscuits which are received on two adjacentdiscs, completely out of con- .tact with the pulley 103-106 lyingbetween the discs.

The biscuits of the first category are carried along by the pulleys103-106 between the discs associated with the pulleys and aredischargedon to the chute 125.

The biscuits of the second and third categories are all subjected to arotary movement as they are carried along by the drum assembly 102,owing to the fact that one corner of each of these biscuits is caused tomove at a 10 greater speed than the opposite corner of the biscuit aspreviously described above with reference to FIGURE 3 and the biscuitsof all three categories will be orientated in substantially the samedirection before they are discharged on to the chute 125.

The peripheral surfaces of the pulleys 103-106' and the peripheral edgesof the discs '108-112 may have either a smooth or roughened surface,depending on the surface of the biscuits being handled. For example ifthe biscuits have a rough surface there may be sufiicie'nt frictionalresistance between the biscuits on the one hand, and the pulleys anddiscs on the other hand, for the latter to have smooth surfaces. If, onthe other hand, the biscuits have a smooth surface it may be necessaryto provide the petripheral surfaces of the pulleys and/ or discs with aroughened finish, or to cover them with a frictional material, to ensurethat the rotary movements of the biscuits referred to above take place.

Of course the relative speeds of the pulleys 103-106 and discs '108-112mentioned above may be varied. The important thing to ensure in theapparatus of FIGURES 15 and 16 is that the pulleys 103-106 rotate atsuch a speed that the biscuits received on the drum assembly areconveyed forwardly at the desired speed, i.e. not slower than the speedof advance of the conveyor 101. It is also desirable that the algebraicsum of the peripheral velocities of the two discs associated with eachof the pulleys 103-106 should be approximately twice the peripheralvelocity of the pulley.

The apparatus shown in FIGURES 15 and 16 can of course be made to handleany desired number of rows of biscuits other than the four rowsmentioned particularly above. To this end the fiat-rimmed pulleys andthe friction wheels 115 may be removably mounted on the shafts 107 and116, respectively so that any desired number of the pulleys and theirassociated discs may be mounted side by side on the shaft 107. Bysuitably spacing apart the flat-rimmed pulleys on the shaft 107 theapparatus can be made to handle any one of a range of different sizes ofbiscuits. In this case a number of sets of fiat-rimmed pulleys may beprovided with the apparatus the pulleys of each set having a differentrim width from the pulleys of the other sets. Alternatively, the pulleysmay have easily removable rims so that the pulleys can be provided withrims of a width suitable for the biscuits being handled.

The apparatus of FIGURES 15 and 16 may of course be varied in severalways. For example each of the pulleys 103-106 may be associated with twodiscs neither of which is associated with another pulley. In otherwords, two discs arranged side by side may be provided between adjacentpulleys. Again the stationary discs 109 and 111 may be replaced byarcuate stationary strips mounted between the pulleys 103 and 104 andbetween the pulleys and 106, said strips projecting radially beyond thesurface of the pulleys by an amount equal to, or a little greater than,the thickness of the biscuits being handled.

Although the handling of rectangular biscuits has been referred to indetail above, it will be appreciated that apparatus according to thepresent invention may be employed equally well for handling anynon-circular biscuits or similar flat articles. It must be appreciated,however, that in the case of some articles, e.g. of triangular shape,the articles may leave the apparatus orientated in a number of welldefined different angular positions.

It should be noted that in addition to orientating the articles in aregular manner the apparatus according to the invention has the propertyof producingone or more substantially straight rows of articles on theoutlet side despite the fact that the row or rows of articles enteringthe apparatus may not be straight. This again greatly facilitatessubsequent handling of the articles.

What we claim is: e

1. An apparatus for orientating a plurality of articles,

comprising means for forming at least one upwardly open channel in whichthe disorientated articles are deposited, said means comprising a basemember and two side members, said side members being substantiallyparallel to each other and spaced apart a distance adapted to beslightly greater than the minor transverse dimension of the articles butless than the major transverse dimension of the articles so that anyarticle can rest in its entirety on said base member between said sidemembers only if the article is orientated with a minor transverse dimension extending substantially at right angles to said side members; andmeans for moving said base member and each of said side members in thesame direction at difierent speeds whereby articles positioned with themajor transverse dimension transverse to said side members, and partlyor fully resting on the same are turned to drop on said base memberwhile moving in said direction.

2. An apparatus for orientating a plurality of articles, comprisingmeans for forming at least one upwardly open channel in which thedisorientated articles are deposited, said means comprising a basemember and two side members, said side members being substantiallyparallel to each other and spaced apart a distance adapted to beslightly greater than the minor transverse dimension of the articles butless than the major transverse dimension of the articles so that anyarticle can rest in its entirety on said base member between said sidemembers only if the article is orientated with a minor transversedimension extending substantially at right angles to said side members,and two stationary members respectively located between said base memberand said side members and forming with the latter the side Walls of saidchannel; and means for moving said base member and each of said sidemembers in the same direction at different speeds whereby articlespositioned with the major transverse dimension transverse to said sidemembers, and partly or fully resting on the same are turned to drop onsaid base member while moving in said direction.

3. An apparatus for orientating a plurality of articles, comprisingmeans for forming at least one upwardly open channel in which thedisorientated articles are deposited, said means comprising a basemember and two side members, said side members being belt conveyorssubstantially parallel to each other and spaced apart a distance adaptedto be slightly greater than the minor transverse dimension of thearticles but less than the major transverse dimension of the articles sothat any article can rest in its entirety on said base member betweensaid belt conveyors only if the article is orientated with a minortransverse dimension extending substantially at right angles to saidside members, and two stationary members respectively located betweensaid base member and said belt conveyors, said stationary members havinggrooves for guiding said belt conveyors in said direction and formingwith the latter the side walls of said channel; and means for causing aneffective relative movement between said two belt conveyors, and betweeneach belt conveyor and said base member whereby articles positioned withthe major transverse dimension transverse to said side members, andpartly or fully resting on the same are turned to drop on said basemember while moving in said direction.

4. An apparatus for orientating a plurality of articles, comprisingmeans for forming at least one upwardly open channel in which thedisorientated articles are deposited, said means comprising a basemember and two side members, said side members being substantiallyparallel to each other and spaced apart a distance adapted to beslightly greater than the minor transverse dimension of the articles butless than the major transverse dimension of the articles so that anyarticle can rest in its entirety on said base member between said sidemembers only if the article is orientated with a minor transversedimension extend-ing substantially at right angles to said side members;means for causing an effective relative movement between said two sidemembers, and between each side member said base member whereby articlespositioned with the major transverse dimension transverse to said sidemembers, and partly or fully resting on the same are turned to drop onsaid base member while moving in said direction, a second base memberlocated downstream of said first-mentioned base member and having anupstream end portion forming with the downstream end portion of saidfirst-mentioned base member a depression; and means for moving saidsecond base member in the same direction and at a greater speed thansaid firstmentioned base member whereby superimposed articles areseparately engaged in said depression by said second base member wherebythe first engaged article is moved away at a greater speed from therespective other article and separated from the same.

5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said base members areconstituted by the upper runs of two band conveyors having main portionsextending substantially in the same palne, said upstream end portion ofsaid second base member being a downwardly inclined portion of therespective band conveyor.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said side members extendover said second base member.

7. An apparatus for orientating a plurality of articles, comprisingmeans for forming at least one upwardly open channel in which thedisorientated articles are deposited, said means comprising a basemember and two side members, said side members being substantiallyparallel to each other and spaced apart a distance adapted to beslightly greater than the minor transverse dimension of the articles butless than the major transverse dimension of the articles so that anyarticle can rest in its entirety on said base member between said sidemembers only if the article is oriented with a minor transversedimension extending substantially at right angles to said side members,and two stationary members respectively located between said base memberand said side member and forming with the latter the side walls of saidchannel; means for causing an effective relative movement between saidtwo side members, and between each side member and said base memberwhereby articles positioned with the major transverse dimensiontransverse to said side members, and partly or fully resting on the sameare turned to drop on said base member while moving in said direction; asecond base member located downstream of said first-mentioned basemember and having an upstream end portion forming with the downstreamend portion of said first-mentioned base member a depression; and meansfor moving said second base member in the same direction and at agreater speed than said first-mentioned base member whereby superimposedarticles are separately engaged in said depression by said second basemember whereby the first engaged article is moved away at a greaterspeed from the respective other article and separated from the same.

8. An apparatus for orientating a plurality of articles, comprisingmeans for forming at least one upwardly open channels in which thedisorientated articles are deposited; said means comprising a basemember and two side members, said side members being substantiallyparallel to each other and spaced apart a distance adapted to beslightly greater than the minor transverse dimension of the articles butless than the major transverse dimension of the articles so that anyarticle can rest in its entirety on said base member between said sidemembers only if the article is orientated with a minor transversedimension extending substantially at right angles to said side members,and two stationary members respectively lo cated between said basemember and said side member and forming with the letter the side wallsof said channel; means for causing an effective relative movementbetween said two side members, and between each side member and saidbase member whereby articles positioned with the major transversedimension transverse to said side members, and partly or fully restingon the same are turned to drop on said base member while moving in saiddirection; a second base member located downstream of saidfirst-mentioned base member and having an upstream end portion formingwith the downstream end portion of said first-mentioned base member adepression; and means for moving said second base member in the samedirection and at a greater speed than said first-mentioned base memberwhereby superimposed articles are separately engaged in said depressionby said second base member whereby the first engaged article is movedaway at a greater speed from the respective other article and separatedfrom the same, said stationary members extending over said second basemember.

9. An apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said side members extendover said second base member above said stationary members.

10. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein both side memberstravel at a faster speed than said base member.

11. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 comprising a plurality ofsubstantially similar channels arranged side by side.

12. An apparatus as set forth in claim 11 wherein a single side memberserves as a side member for two adjacent channels.

13. An apparatus as set forth in claim 11 in which all said channelshave a common base member.

14. An apparatus as set forth in claim 13 wherein said common basemember is the upper run of a band conveyor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,459,367 Hawes June 19, 1923 1,931,114 Olney Oct. 17, 1933 2,671,550Schultz Mar. 9, 1954 2,769,522 Pfeifier NOV. 6, 1956

